All a Blur
by Maeve H
Summary: Shane Gray comes back to Camp Rock and falls for the wrong person, causing chaos for his band, friends and mostly himself. SLASH. COMPLETE.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Shane Gray's third year at Camp Rock gets turned upside down when he starts crushing on his former best friend and band mate, Nate Black. Watch the drama unfold as Shane finds himself confessing his feelings to Nate and becoming friends with his ex-girlfriends worst enemy.

* * *

Mitchie and I hung out all summer long just talking and writing music. Near the end, though, that's when the romance took an unexpected turn. No longer was I able to write the sweet, acoustic songs or even talk to her. We were both trying to make conversation but all we'd say were a couple haphazard conjunctions here and there to try and fill the awkward gaps until one of us made up an excuse to leave.

"So…" Mitchie said, attempting to somehow permeate the silence.

"So…" I restated, unable to think of anything else.

We're both supposed to be asleep right now. Sneaking out before the morning bell used to be one of my favorite things to do with her. Each of us were never too close in a boyfriend/girlfriend kind of way but we had something going when we would lean on one another, sit on that old bench and watch the sunrise over the luminous water. It made me feel isolated and ever so slightly rebellious. But lately I've felt uncomfortable sitting hip to hip with her head resting on the front of my shoulder and there's no doubt that Mitchie has all the same feelings I do.

Both of us sit up and look into the other's eyes. I quietly stutter a little with nothing to say but cut it off with a sigh. We're about to do the thing I had been dying to do when we first met and now I don't even know anymore. But I had to find out.

I gradually lean in, as does she, and close my eyes. Our lips gently touch and I feel something. It's nothing but a diminutive spark in the pit of my stomach. When we first started cliquing, I got the same feeling and so much more. It was like it covered my skin and practically stabbed me in the chest… but in a good way. I want to feel that again but as much as I reach for it, nothing's there.

We pull apart and look at each other, discomfit. I open my mouth to speak but then she says the very thing I was about to. "We need to talk…"

I look down at my watch to check the time when realize the morning bell is going to wake up the whole camp in two minutes. Mitchie and I decide we'll talk later then run back to our cabins before we get caught outside. Still my pajamas, I sneak past Jason and Nate, my band mates to whom I share a cabin with, and lay down in my bed just in time to fake wake up at seven-o'clock.

A few seconds pass while I attempt to make up for the sleep I missed but give up once I grasp the fact that I can't do that on my agenda. I get up and casually walk over to my dresser and start to look for cloths.

"You look like you've been up for hours," Nate speaks, groggy and tired from just waking up.

"More like thirty minutes," I say with a smile knowing he's too sleepy to care what I'm talking about.

At breakfast I sit next to Tess so I can avoid talking to Mitchie. She doesn't like her because she's still a snob sometimes but she's not as bad as she was last summer.

"Why aren't you sitting next to Mitchie again?" Tess asks.

"It's complicated," I answer. It's not like we'd have to talk about our relationship while we're around all these other people, I just don't feel as comfortable with her ever since we became boyfriend and girlfriend. Things were so much better when we were just friends.

Although, I don't know what make the two situations so different from each other because the closes we've come to dating was the awkward kiss we shared this morning. We were best friends last year and we hung out all summer long but a little over a week ago, we saw each other for the first time in a year. Last summer I thought I was in love with Mitchie Torres… and I still thought so the first day back when we decided to take things to the next level. Only to find out that my 'love' was really just an admiration of our friendship. Now I've ruined it.

"Gotta go," I stand up.

"But you just got here," Tess asserts.

I throw away the food I didn't finish and grab my bag. "The band and I got a busy schedule. See you later," I start to walk away.

"Bye!"

As I arrive at rehearsals, Jason's working on some new chords with my uncle Brown while Nate watches. They finished just as I walk up and Brown calls up Nate and me to work on the new song too.

"Oh, I forgot my drum sticks back at the cabin," Nate remembers out loud, "I have to go back and get them."

"Don't worry about it," I stop him, "I'll get them for you."

"Thanks!" I hear him say while I'm walking back to the cabin.

While I'm searching through his things, I hear the door creek open behind me. I turn around to find Mitchie. Without thinking; I stand there and stare blankly at her, not realizing how rude I'm being.

She opens her mouth without saying anything but after a few more seconds of silence, she says; "I think you know what I'm here for."

Really, I'm just making an excuse to leave but I am being truthful when I say; "I need to get back to band rehearsals with the guys."

"Okay," she gradually walks towards me, "but I need to tell you something before you leave." She pauses and we both sit down on my bed behind us. "I really like you, Shane, and I want to be your girlfriend. I yearn for what we had just a couple days ago and hope we could still manage that the way we did but I don't want to be with someone pretending to love be back because they're too nice to reject me. I need an honest answer, Shane, when I ask you… Do you feel the same about me as I do about you?"

I sigh, "I don't know."

But she knows me too well. "I think you do."

I want to feel the same way, I want to be with Mitchie so everything can be easy again and I want to be entirely sure about what I want. But-as hard as it is to except it-being her 'boyfriend' isn't going to make anything easy again. And finally I realize my answer that won't actually answer anything but it's more important than my answers. It's the truth.

"No," I say.


	2. Chapter 2

When I saw Mitchie in the cafeteria, not realizing she was walking my way, I walked to a near table pretending I didn't even see her. I acknowledge my immaturity in this situation but if we weren't at the same camp we would go our disconnected ways like any other couple who's recently separated. But we are at camp so, for now, when she comes my way-I walk away.

Behind me, I hear Tess make a sly, callous comment to Mitchie as she approaches the counter. Mitchie wasn't kidding about Tess still being mean. Really mean. But disregarding the accidentally selfish comments here and there she was always nice to me and everybody else. When she sits down next to me I ask her, "How come you hate Mitchie so much?"

She looks at me funny. "I don't hate her."

"Well, something about the way you were just talking to her tells me you're not best friends," I say with a sarcastic grin.

Tess looks up with a guilty look on her face and the end-of-dinner bell suddenly rings. We had stayed back this time to help put out the camp fire so we came back late, giving us no time to eat. Now we had to be in our cabins by seven-thirty and be in bed by eight. But I still want to hear what Tess' side of the story is.

"Walk you to your cabin?" I offer.

Together, we start walking and she explains. "This is going to sound stupid," she warns even though I know she's just saying that out of embarrassment. "I decided to be nicer to everyone when I came back this year and I have been but whenever I talk to Mitchie, the mean words just spill out."

I bring her into a side-hug while we're walking, trying to comfort her. "It doesn't sound stupid," I state, "I hate to say this… but it sounds like jealousy."

She lets out a big sigh. "I was friends with everybody before she got here. And when I came back this summer everybody was in love with 'Mitchie the camp darling' and I had to win all of _my_ friends back. But they still talk about how amazing she is all the time."

Approaching her cabin, I walk up the stairs with her and we stand by the door. What Tess needs right now is a motivating speech so I try my best to prepare a couple words of wisdom in my head. "Tess, you're a great girl." I start, "Your friends still love you even if they love Mitchie too now. I think you should ignore the reality that you lost them all for a moment and focus on the fact that you have them right now. Also, you're kind of friends with Caitlyn and all of them now."

With a smile forming on her face, she lets out another sigh. "Thanks, Shane. You always know what to say."

A crisp breeze blows on my skin and the sky gets a little darker as a cloud moves in front of the vivid, red sunset. It reminds me that I have to get back to the boys' cabins before a counselor comes to check on everybody.

"Better start walking back now," I speak, "Do you promise to be nicer for me?"

"I promise," she giggles. "Thanks for your help."

"It's my pleasure." I hear leafs crunch and see someone arrive out of the corner of my eye as I talk.

Speak of the devil. I had forgotten Tess was actually staying with Mitchie, Caitlyn and Lola because Ella and Peggy had filled up their cabin with some of their new friends. Although I recall the memory the moment I turn to see Mitchie standing at the bottom of the three wood steps.

This couldn't have looked worse through Mitchie's eyes. The boy you departed from earlier today talking to the girl you hate. I feel so horrible.

"Hi, Mitchie," I utter with an awkward tone of voice.

"Hey, Shane." She walks up the set of stairs and in between Tess and me. "Tess," she pronounces sternly with a glare and walks inside.

Hopefully Tess will still be nice to Mitchie even thought it doesn't look like Mitchie is going to be nice to her.

"I better get inside."

"Goodnight," I articulate, shooting her a hopeful smile and walk back to my cabin.

As I open the door, Nate and Jason are sitting on their beds playing with their guitars. They're always the ones to do the same thing in the same room but never do anything together. It's something I've always found weird about them.

"Why are you so late?" Jason asks realizing its eight-twenty. "Didn't you get caught?"

"No," I answer, "And I was walking Tess back to her cabin."

Nate looks up from his six string. "Tess? What about Mitchie?"

"Nothing's happening between Tess and me. Besides," my voice gets a little quieter as I loom the sensitive subject, "Mitchie and I broke up today."

They both look completely befuddled by what I've spoke. I answer to their expressions; "Things just didn't work out, okay? I don't want to talk about it."

"Does this have anything to do with Tess?" Nate asks, getting up and walking over to his dresser.

"Why do you guys always have to think there is something between me and every one of my friends who are girls?"

Jason chuckles at me and inquires, "Why are you always 'just friends' with all these girls?"

I disregard their stupid questions. They are my band mates and my best friends but they've never been very good at understanding me.

Nate takes off his shirt and I get this feeling in my stomach all of the sudden. Something I'm unable to defy. I quickly rush to the bathroom, lock the door behind me and sit against the wall in the far corner.

_What was that?_


	3. Chapter 3

When I wake up in the morning and see Nate in his bed, I start to feel uncomfortable even though he has no idea what's going on unless he can read my mind. It was a short moment that probably meant nothing but it's one of those things that will stay in my mind until I can fully understand exactly what happened.

It's not that I haven't gotten that feeling before, because I have. But I never knew what caused it and I've always been able to ignore it. This time I couldn't ignore it no matter what I did and I think it may have been Nate who brought it on. How could that happen?

Without thinking about it, I watch him sleep for a little bit. It's not like he's a beautiful sleeper or something, I just stare without noticing what I'm doing. But when I hear Jason's bed creak as he wakes up, I become conscious of it and stop myself. I'm not worried about Jason seeing me because he's too much of a space to notice. Yet I'm still embarrassed again.

As soon as I get dressed, I go down to mess hall. I tell the guys that I'm in a hurry and run out the door but the truth is I just wanted to get out of there. Tess always gets up early so I knew I could catch up with her, and I was really curious how things went in her cabin last night.

"It was fine, I guess," she answered, "I told Mitchie you and I are just friends but after that she ignored me for the rest of the night. I tried to be nice but it's hard to show any type of emotion to someone who refuses to talk to you."

"I wish I could still be friends with Mitchie," I said honestly. Never have I been content with my own feelings this summer. I date my best friend, loose my best friend, get a new best friend who doesn't get along with my old best friend, and now my other best friend-who just happens to be a guy-is giving me strange feelings that I don't understand. "Things would be a lot easier if we hadn't screwed things up by dating," I say, even though I know now that Mitchie isn't my only problem…

Tess puts a hand on my back, "You'll be friends again," she says, "Just maybe not today. Give it some time; it looks to me like she needs some time to get over you."

Part of me is dying to tell her about the Nate thing but the other part doesn't ever wants to say anything and just wait until I forget about it. After all, it was just one time. I try my hardest to convince myself that I'm just being over dramatic but then Tess says something.

"Are Nate and Jason coming?" The simplest of any questions completely throws me off balance. When she says his name, Nate pops into my head and I get that feeling again out of nowhere. Now it's obvious that he's the one sending the bizarre emotions but is it really going to happen every time I think about him?

"I don't know," I answer. "We usually rehearse a little before going to Mess Hall but I just didn't feel like it today."

My mind is screaming at me to shut up but I can't help myself, I just wanted someone to at least say something so it's not just me trying to come up with my own solutions. Besides, if one person could ever understand this; it would definitely be Tess. "So," I awkwardly hesitate to start, "I'm a little worried because I think I may like another one of my friends who happen to be at this camp."

She looks at me with a confused look on her face. She knows I'm not talking about her because, otherwise, I would have tried talking to somebody else. "Uh… Caitlyn?" She asks.

I shake my head. I'd like to give her a straight answer but I'm too nervous.

And I keep shaking my head as she asks about pretty much every girl we know, "Peggy? Dana? Ella? Lola?"

"That's the thing," I explain, "I'm not sure if I actually like this person." It was a lie. But who cares if I'm untruthful to Tess? I keep telling myself the same exact lie. I'm just attempting avoid actually admitting that the person I'm trying to talk about isn't a girl.

"Shane, just spit it out. I'm getting totally confused."

Now I'm just as irritated with myself as Tess is. "It's a guy!" Thankfully, nobody heard me even though I feel like I'm screaming my words. "The last two-maybe three-times I've been around my band mate, _Nate Black_, I get this strange stomach ache that I can't get rid of and now it's coming back at the mere mention of his name. And, last night, I think I realized… I may have a crush on my best friend."

She looks at me for a moment. "Oh," she says, trying to stay cool about it, "I didn't know you were-"

"Don't say it." I interrupt.

Her ill at ease expression breaks into a smile. "You don't like labels?" She nudges my side lightly with her elbow and giggles at my cliché principles.

"At least not for now," I tell her as I shoot back a tension breaking grin, "Nobody can find out about this, certainly not Nate. I don't need everybody on campgrounds talking about this… and I really don't want all the magazines to be headlining my sexuality in their next pop star gossip issue."

She turns towards me and sends me a sympathetic look. "I understand," she says, "But are you sure you don't want to tell _Nate_? Just so he'll know."

I don't need him quitting the band because he's too uncomfortable around me. He's definitely straight and I don't need a repeat of what I just went through with Mitchie. "He doesn't need to know," I shrug, "Nate likes girls, and that's that."

"You never know, people can surprise you," she squeezes my arm, implying that I'm one of those people-who-surprised-her. She makes a good point; I even surprised myself. But as much as I think about it, reality always reminds me that, in life, nothing ever works out the way Shane Daniel Gray would ever want it to.

Later on, Tess and I are rehearsing together but we're really just wasting our time talking; more than usual too now that Tess knows my secret.

"I think he was being really nice to you," she says, speaking of Nate earlier at breakfast.

"He always acts like that," I tell her, "You're just noticing it now because you know I like him." My voice is a little softer when I speak because I'm so concerned of anybody over hearing me. "He was being nice you too. And so was Jason… Does everybody like everybody now?"

Tess lets out a snigger before her face gets slightly more serious. "Look Shane, I don't know what he feels like but I just think you'd feel better if you let him know about your secret. And we both know Nate, and I think that he'd understand no matter what he feels like."

Nate and Jason arrive as our conversation about them ends. Tess gives me a look and I know precisely what she means by it.

"Hey, did you guys see those posters hanging out there? There's some famous pop band going to _this_ camp!" Jason says, oblivious to the fact that he's in a famous pop band that's going to this camp.

"Really?" Tess gets up and locks arms with him. "Why don't you show me," she plays along with Jason's stupidity. I recognize exactly what she's doing but before I can say anything to make them stay, they're both gone in a flash and I'm left alone with Nate.


	4. Chapter 4

**Nate's P.O.V.**

Something weird is going on here. Not only would Tess normally catch on to the fact that Jason is being a space cadet, but she'd noticeably roll her eyes at his oblivion.

The two of them let the door fall shut as they leave the room and I seem back at Shane. He looks up at me and flashes a sheepish smile my way. "Do you know why Tess is acting so odd?" I ask him. He's been hanging out with her a lot lately, so I assume he'd know about any recent shifts in her reasoning.

"I don't," he says back to my question. "I mean, I do," he stutters. "Uh, maybe she's… just…" He struggles to explain, leaving me confused in his terms.

"Shane…?" I say slowly and he looks back at me with the obvious embarrassment stretched across his face. We've almost never been alone, just the two of us, and there's evidently something strange about it considering I've never seen my band mate of several years act like this before. "Is there something you need to tell me?"

His face almost looks guilty after he processes the subject matter I've brought up. I watch his eyes reallocate to the floor and he answers more of my first question rather than the second; "There's something Tess wanted me to tell you."

Maybe he's acting like himself but because his confidence has turned into this fidgety, awkward kid; he seems like a completely different person to me. "Well, what is it?" I say. "What does Tess want you to tell me?"

Ill at ease, I hear him let out a sigh. "Look," he starts, "I don't want you to feel uncomfortable or anything but," now he turns his head back up and locks his gaze with mine. "I think I may have feelings for you. As more than a friend," he hesitates to speak the last part.

I'm completely puzzled by what he has just told me. At first, my brain won't believe it but as I stare back at my old comrade, I can see that he is beyond serious in his statement.

Yes, I have always considered myself straight but, being perfectly honest with myself, I've always wondered in secret what it would be like to be with another guy. It's clear that my best friend wouldn't be the person I'd want to… 'Try' per say; but it's not like I could choose just anyone. Perhaps this was just a chance for me.

But as I'm still in shock from what I just heard, I'm not thinking straight (no pun intended). Millions of things pop into my head in a manner of seconds, and I'm too anxious to trust my own instincts. I don't think about what I'm doing and find myself in the position of picking something that would usually be lower on the list of things to do in order. Like, _after_ replying to what he's just told me.

My common since doesn't stop myself from trying. I think it's too late anyway, he knows what I'm about to do. Our faces get closer as I lean in slowly. Nervous about what he's thinking right now, I attempt to ignore his facial expression. My lips touch his and they're held there for just a couple of seconds. It's like nothing and I don't know what I'm supposed to be feeling right now. I pull my head back with nothing to say and he jumps up from his seat.

"I'm sorry," he tells me.

"No," I immediately counter. I look for the words to say and falter, "I need to be somewhere." Maybe I don't need to be somewhere but I need to not be here. I turn around and swiftly walk out the door without looking back, leaving Shane alone.


	5. Chapter 5

The screen door creeks shut and swings back with a startling smack against the door hinge. Nate is now walking away from me after I tried to kiss him… Or he tried to kiss me… I wasn't focused on what was going on because I was too concerned with the fact that it was actually happening. I'm still staring blankly after he's out of sight, my jaw at the floor. Once life comes around and slaps me upside the head, I move and make my way out of the room while I look around like a puzzled idiot. Before guitar classes start I meet Tess in the rehearsal cabin a couple minutes early.

"So, did you tell him?" She runs towards me and gets straight to her point.

"Yeah," I answer, "I did."

"What did he say? He's okay with right? Nothing weird?"

I finally move my eyes to her. "Well I wouldn't say 'nothing weird' considering he didn't say a single word but I guess he's okay with it since he… kissed me."

Her pupils dilate and I see her smile fade, but not completely. There's still a little grin there.

"Is this good?" She asks, "Are you guys, like…"

"No! I don't know." I use an irritated tone of voice. "All I know is I told him I have a crush on him and he kissed me for some reason and just walked out."

Everyone walks in the room with the handles of guitar cases dangling from their fingers. Tess leans over and whispers, "Do you want to ask your uncle if it'd be okay for you to sleep in my cabin tonight? There's an extra bunk." She speaks, completely forgetting that she has cabin mates.

"I'm sure Mitchie would appreciate the two of us having sleepovers in the same cabin as her, Caitlyn and Lola." Her face changes abruptly after hearing my sarcastic terminology.

Now comes the time that has made me dread my life during this long day. I get back to my cabin before Nate or Jason. Questions torture my brain like the digestion of rat poison. Has Nate told Jason? Has Nate told anybody? Is he making up his own story to make himself look like a victim? I wouldn't be surprised at the last one. They both walk in talking about something. Anything.

"Hey guys," I say.

"Hey," Jason replies. Nate doesn't even look at me.

He walks into the bathroom and starts brushing his teeth. After putting a few things away, I do the same and as soon as I reach the doorway, he leaves. Again, not even looking at me…


	6. Chapter 6

Its bitter cold in the cabin as if someone had left the door open all night. I clutch onto my sheet and keep it as tight to my body as I possibly can. I catch Jason walking past my bed in nothing but PJ bottoms and a short-sleeve t-shirt. "How are you not freezing?" I say, slipping away from the warm covers.

"I like the cold," he says. He has always been one to open windows on a snowy day and walk around in summer cloths. "But I wasn't the one who opened the door last night," he defends himself and jesters to the entrance that is propped open with a suit case.

"That was me." I hear Nate's voice from behind me. I turn around to see him getting up from his pillow and hanging his feet over the edge of his bed. He's got a baggy sweatshirt on. "I must have accidently left it open when I left for a little while last night."

"No leaving cabins after dark Mr." Jason points to him as he walks across the room and makes his way to the bathroom. I can't tell if he was mocking the camp rules or just being Jason.

"Was he being serious?" Nate looks at me to my surprise.

"It speaks." I don't mean for my tone to sound so wicked, but I'm upset. He looks away awkwardly.

"Sorry," his voice is groggy and his eyes are fixed on his fidgeting hands. "…I didn't know what to do."

"Look, I'm sor-"

"I told you not to apologize," he interrupts. "I kissed you, remember?" His voice falls to a nervous whisper to ensure that Jason can't hear us.

Jason casually walks out of the bathroom and startles both of us. "What's got you two all worked up?" He asks with a giggle. To my-and probably Nate's-relief, he apparently didn't hear a thing. He doesn't wait for an answer and goes into his next topic; "I have to talk to Brown about the next Beach Jam today. Could you guys remind me so I don't forget?"

"Actually," Nate walks over to Jason, "Brown wanted to talk to you early. You probably want to get to his office sooner rather than later."

Is he actually trying to get rid of Jason?

Falling for Nate's fib, Jason gets dressed quickly and leaves. Nate turns around and leans on the door, standing awkwardly. This entire time I've been sitting on the edge of my bunk.

"Did my uncle actually want to talk to him right now?" I ask.

He steps closer and sits next to me, ready to say something. "Okay, I didn't… um… I mean…" he gracelessly stutters through every word. "Yesterday… wasn't supposed to happen like that." I don't say anything; just keep listening. "I don't want us to be anything but friends," he tells me.

I didn't expect anything more but to hear him say it out loud stings like a twisted dagger. "Then why did you kiss me?" I whisper. It's a stupid question that I want to beat myself up for but I just had to know.

A loud, stress filled sigh draws from his lungs, and then he speaks his answer underneath his breath. "I wanted to know what it would be like…"

Speechless. He thinks of me as some sort of hit 'n run. I've been treated like a toy.

"Shane-"

"So that's it?" I disrupt, rising from my hold.

"What do you mean?" He stands too, so we're face to face.

Nate's always been about himself; changing things to the way he wants them and only telling his side of the story. That's why it never occurred to him how embarrassing this might be for me or the fact that the whole camp-then the whole world-could've found out about this.

My throat clenches and tears start to choke up in my eyes but I hold them back the best I can. "You just use me like your own experiment and now you want everything to be normal again. My ex-girlfriend thinks I'm dating her nemesis, meanwhile I'm working up the audacity to confess my true feelings to you and you want us to be friends. My apologies, but it's too hard for me to be friends with the guy who just found out that I'm in love with him!"


	7. Chapter 7

Today, I'm back before 7:30 pm and find that Jason and Nate must have left dinner early too. Nate's plucking at his guitar, like usual, and Jason is drawing something. He's been drawing a lot lately.

"You're earlier than usual," Jason says, "I'm used to seeing you back ten minutes after the bell rings."

I smile a little and tell him, "Tess had to meet with Brown about Final Jam."

"You've been hanging out with Tess an awful lot," he says. "Are you guys, like…?"

"No!" I avow. "Why does everybody think we're dating? First Mitchie, now you."

Jason puts his hands up in defense, declaring, "It is a little suspicious, Shane. You break up with this girl and you're all of the sudden hanging around this other like she's dying tomorrow."

I look at him like he's crazy and attempt to make an excuse. "That's really offensive, Jason. How do you know she's not dying?"

"Is she?"

"No."

Nate hasn't looked up this entire time. I walk past him to get to the dresser and pull out a baggy t-shirt and some flannel pants to wear to bed.

"Nate," Jason looks to him across the room, "Doesn't it seem like there's something going on between Shane and Tess."

Nate finally looks up from his guitar. Stammering recklessly, he says, "Um, I don't know. I guess."

I look at him and we make eye contact for the first time since the kiss. His face looks fretful somehow. Part of me almost wants to reassure him that I won't say anything but the other part of me is mad at him for being such a jerk and wants him to suffer in his worries. Does that make me just as bad as him?

"So do think you'll perform that song in our next show here?" Jason changes the subject, speaking of the song Nate's been playing on his bed.

"I don't know," he shrugs, "Maybe we'll just try it out."

Turning away, I let out a brazen sniff beneath my breath. His words remind me of what he had said to me yesterday.

"What?" Nate states, turning around to look at my presents again.

"Nothing," I say, "But _maybe_ you should at least warn the song before using it."

He stands up and rolls his eyes at me. "_Maybe_ it doesn't matter that much."

"Well, _maybe_ you shouldn't get the song's hopes up."

"_Maybe_ the song shouldn't be so sensitive."

"_Maybe_ you should treat all songs like songs and not something to toy with. No matter how sensitive!" I snap.

Jason looks at the two of us with one eyebrow lifted. I ignore his look and turn around to get into my bunk, facing the wall.

The lights go out shortly after I'm in my bed except for the dim, blue glow of Nate's cell phone that I can see out of the corner of my eye. It goes off and I suddenly hear footsteps creaking across the room and the loose cabin door gently screeching open and falling shut.


	8. Chapter 8

**Tess' P.O.V.**

Never have I been one to go to bed at eight and wake up at six, especially not on my mom's tour schedule. I'm more of a go to bed at three am and wake up at noon type of girl.

Lately, I've been going through one of my weirdest sleeping patterns by not falling asleep until midnight and waking up around five. It's Shane keeping me up. I'm worried about him. Most people don't think I'm capable of caring about any person-and I don't blame them, considering I spent my first three years of camp trying to make everyone but me miserable-but I worried about Ella when her parents got a divorce and I worried about my mother when she got her first stalker. I pretend not to care because I want to appear lackadaisical about these types of things. It makes me seem stronger.

Shane, I think, lost his innocence a while back when he first became a pop star. Yet, somehow, whenever I look at him, I see a naïve boy desperately looking for love. That's why I was able to tear him down so easily a couple of summers ago. After watching all this drama happen to him, I wonder if he'll be able to bear it all in the end.

I tip toe across the room in my slippers and step outside for some fresh air. I check around camp thoroughly to make sure no adults are around to bust me then decide to go for a walk when I find that the coast is clear.

The air is cold, but I like it that way. Most people hate how chilly it is here during the summer but I think it adds to the scene of camp. A lot of the leaves have already fallen and the aroma of natural pine is all over. Never once would I trade this place for one of my mom's beach houses in California or Hawaii. That's only what I tell other people. I sit on a log right by the lake, looking all the way to the other end of the glistening water. I can see the flashy Camp Star sign.

Just to the right of that sign are two people sitting awfully close to each other. One with long, dark hair and a big smile… must be Dana. The other wearing skinny jeans and has messy, brunette curls. If I didn't know any better I'd say it was Nate. I pull out the digital camera I have in my pocket and zoom in on the two of them. They're still far away but I can see close enough to make out their faces. Definitely Nate and Dana. I press down on the big silver button and hold it until I catch a snap shot of the two of them flirtatiously chattering. Then another. Then another.

These photographs probably won't get used for anything bearing in mind that if I rat these two out for being elsewhere after hours, I'll get in trouble too. But you never know, maybe Brown and Axel only pretended to work things out and secretly won't allow Camp Rockers to hang around anyone from Camp Star.

Nate is absolutely beaming and Dana's giggling up a storm. I can almost hear her laughter playing over in my mind. I haven't heard it in a long time because she got mad at me when I left her with Luke and the couple of kids who actually stayed at Camp Star rather than transferring to the not-so-sparkly camp opposite to them.

As if the two of them weren't already sitting close enough, I watch them through the screen on my camera leaning into each other. I seize another picture; then see them share a dawdling kiss on the lips. My jaw drops at the sight of their moment. They weren't just sneaking out to the docks to make googly eyes at one another. How long have they secretly been together? Did Nate cheat on Dana… with Shane?


	9. Chapter 9

I signed up to teach a new class, just to keep myself busy. I've realized that when I get board and let my mind wander, it's when I start to pity myself the most. This one's another dance class, partner dancing. I asked Tess to be my other but she has a piano class at the same time… which is probably better because the girl I'm being paired with actually knows a thing or two about the ballroom. They really just ask me to be there so more people will sign up for the less popular classes.

This studio is much bigger than the jazz studio and there are mirrors everywhere. When I arrive, there's still a ballet class going on so I stand and watch through the window. I've never seen anything look so hard. I usually imagine a clutter of skinny adolescence prancing around in slippers and leotards when I think about ballet. But this is different.

Every move the dancers make is smooth and poise. They stand still in a perfect position, but the bitter old teacher with her gray hair pulled back walks up to all of them and finds five things to fix. Each one of them lifts to their tip toes, standing in three straight lines with one of the only two boys in the middle. The other boy sits on the bench; he's dressed to be dancing with the rest of them but he's just watching.

The ballet class ends and the ballroom class begin ten minutes after. Not much different from any other dance class… interesting, a little boring, embarrassing at times and the girls outrageously outnumber the boys.

The very next day, I come early again to watch the ballet. This time the door is open so I slide in and stand by the wall. A couple ladies see me and I smile back, making them share giggles towards their friends. The same boy sits aside, watching the others.

…

"There you are," Tess says, approaching me as I eat my lunch on the front steps of my cabin. "Are you avoiding me?" She teasingly nudges me as she sits one stair up. I haven't eaten any meals at mess hall in the last couple days and I've been skipping a lot more often.

"Close," I say, "It isn't you I'm avoiding."

Tess pauses for moment. She's either thinking about who I could be avoiding or why I would be avoiding them. Telling by her next question, it was the second one. "What makes these last couple days so significant to all the other days and places you could've run into her?"

Mitchie's suddenly questioning me as if she's trying to find out about something. When is the easiest time to talk to a person at camp? During breakfast, lunch or dinner. We recently made a little scene after Mitchie confronted Tess and me about how she thought the same thing as everyone else after seeing us hang out in the cabin Tess, Mitchie, Caitlyn and Lola share. I've started putting up this anti-drama shield by keeping away from practically everything. It only seems to cause more drama inside my head, though. Can you keep up? I can't.

"Things are getting even more complicated lately," I tell her, too lazy to explain the entire ordeal.

But Tess changes the subject quickly, asking me; "Have you ever seen Nate sneak in the middle of the night?"

"Yeah, like every night. Why?"

She squints her eyes and motions her hand in a way that's asking for more detail. "Like… just recently or since the beginning of the summer?"

"Since the beginning of the summer," I say hastily, trying to move on to the next subject. The last bell rings and I take Tess by the hand and start dragging her across camp.

"What are you doing?" Tess laughs, trying not to trip over her own feet.

"I want to show you something!"

I drag her to the dance class and show her to the window. She peers in the glass, not looking the least bit impressed, she asks me, "What is this?"

"It's the ballet class that comes right before my dance class."

She nods her head and shrugs. "Cool," she says.

How can she not stunned by the beauty of the each elegant dancer drifting across the floor? I watch in awe as every move is flawlessly in sync. That boy who I usually see sitting beside everyone, is now gracefully standing to the middle of the cluster, holding his feet together and his arms above his head. The stereo flares a string symphony but the pink ballet shoes sliding across the floor play enough music for me.

"Don't you think this is remarkable?" I ask Tess, sounding like a little boy watching a spaceship movie for the first time.

"It's a little boring."

I jokingly put my hands on my hips and shake my head, "Tess, Tess, Tess," and she giggles and gives a small shove at my arm.

"Sorry, I got to go," She says, "Don't want to be late for my lesson."

As I'm waving bye to Tess I hear the door click open behind me. In the way stands the skinny, bitter teacher with a curious look brought by her thick eyebrows. "Shane Gray," she states in a flat tone. I recoil a few steps, thinking I'm about to get lectured about why I should be with a class or in a cabin at all times. But then she reveals a smile, no longer looking bitter and harsh. "You know, there's a much better view from inside."

I come into the room and lean on the wall. Surprisingly, none of the girls giggle or shriek when they see me walk in. They didn't even notice me. The guy I see sitting on the bench every time has now took his place. I watch the last fifteen minutes of their dancing and the bell rings.

"I'm sorry I didn't formally introduce myself earlier," the ballet teach says to me, "My name is Jane."

"Nice to meet you," I say, peaking to my left to see the other dancers leave.

"Not used to not being notice, are you?" She grins at me. I try not to seem so egotistical now that I realize how self absorbed that thought was. Jane then tells me just before she's leaving, "I bet a couple of them were fans, they just couldn't admit to the others that they like pop music."

Turning around, I see bench boy collecting his stuff. "Sorry," he says, "I'll get out of your way."

"No, take your time."

An awkward silence takes place as I try to think of something else to fill the quiet.

"I really enjoyed watching you dance to today," I speak, but regret it once I recognize how weird that sounded.

"Thanks. I wish I could do it more often."

"If you don't mind me asking, why are you always sitting aside by the end of your class?"

"Bad ankle," he says straightening his leg to reveal the bandage around his right ankle. "I'm actually not supposed to be dancing at all but I couldn't stop. I think my doctor's sort of an extremist anyway."

I feel bad for the guy but didn't know what to say to him. "Well, I'll see you around. I'm Shane by the way," I tell him.

"I know who you are," he chuckles, "Daniel. See you around."

He leaves and on his way out I see him pass my dance partner, Lucy, and a couple of the ballroom students close behind her.


	10. Chapter 10

**Tess' P.O.V.**

Perhaps the last thing I need to do is interfere in other people's problems considering all the problems I've caused on my own time. What can a say, I like drama. But I can't watch Shane suffer like this.

"Everything's really good again. I've been writing music again, I'm in a couple more classes now and there hasn't been any drama in a while," he said to me earlier. He's only happier, though, because he literally hasn't spoken a single word to Nate or Mitchie. I've watched him avoid troubles like this before but I don't know when that boy is going to learn that he must face everything eventually.

Now all I want is to make sure that Shane never finds out about Nate and Dana. I've made a simple plan to make sure Nate knows that I know about him and his girlfriend and his cheating… and from there I'll basically blackmail him.

I pass him every day when I'm on my way to mess hall, this time I'll stop and talk to him.

"Hey Nate," I say trying not to sound angry but by the look on his face I could tell he knows I'm not exactly here to talk about unicorns. "Is it true that Dana and you are… a thing?" I ask, without planning my words before I say them.

"How did you find out about that?"

**Mitchie's P.O.V.**

Walking to lunch I hear a muffle of whispers from around the corner. I stop, trying to hear the voices. One of them I recognize as Tess' snotty tone.

"It doesn't matter how I found out," she murmurs, "Is it true that the two of you have been seeing each other since the beginning of the summer?"

"Yeah." Nate? Is she friends with Nate now, too? "Please don't tell her dad, he still hates m-"

"That's not what I'm here to talk about."

I step closer and the leaves crunch underneath my feet. I freeze and nothing changes. They didn't hear anything.

"Then what are you here to talk about?" Nate says sounding more worried than one would expect.

"I know that you cheated on Dana with Shane."

Are my ears hearing right! Nate cheated on his secret girlfriend… with my ex-boyfriend? This must be why Shane's been acting so weird lately. He's not with Tess. He's with Nate. It's hard for me to wrap my brain around this.

Sure, part of me wishes he would have stayed friends with me and given me his trust with this sort of news instead of going and making new friends like Tess. But the other part of me wishes I still didn't know this information now.

I make my way to the cafeteria and see Shane sitting away from the big crowd, with a seat saved next to him with a sweater. I fall into the seat across from him and he seems up at me, looking puzzled.

"We need to talk."


	11. Chapter 11

To my distress, I watch my kind of crazy ex-girlfriend sit down in front of me. Her face always seems too serious nowadays and she looks miserable to me.

"Talk about what?"

Mitchie's head is down and her thumbs are twirling around one another. "I… I…" her voice is suddenly softer than it was when she first walked up to me. "The reason we broke up."

Oh no, not this. Why doesn't she just forget about me? It's like she loves me more than she did while we were together. "Fine," I say as I shrug my shoulders, "Why don't we discuss why you suddenly act like you're obsessed with me."

Her face scrunches up. "I don't-"

"Yes, you do, Mitchie. You're always acting depressed around me and when Tess tried to be nice to you, you still hate her and you expect me to believe that it's because we became friends."

"Well, why couldn't we have just stayed friends?" Mitchie starts to actually get defensive rather than stuttering and moping through every word. "I don't care that we just broke up. I'd rather have remaining feelings for one of my friends instead of no friends at all!" After she realizes what she's said, she recoils and her head hangs down in embarrassment.

No friends? What is she talking about? She has plenty of friends. "What happened?" I ask.

"Before camp started, but after we had picked our cabins, Caitlyn got this boyfriend and I swear I didn't cheat on you with him but that must have been what Caitlyn thought. At first, she was so infatuated with him. Ditching me to hang out with him, texting every second of every day, freaking out whenever he was caught talking to another girl-no matter what age they were. Anything a regular high school girl would do with a new boyfriend. Then he broke up with her and she suddenly stopped talking to me along with Peggy, Ella, Lola and anybody I've ever been friends with at this camp. Caitlyn must have told everyone whatever weird rumor she thought. Now everybody despises me."

It's impossible to know what to say to Mitchie's story. "I'm sorry," I say but I want to comfort her somehow after I assumed this entire thing was about me and called her over dramatic.

"But, Shane," she says, "That's not what I came here to talk about." She leans into the table and I, confused, lean in too. "Have you ever been _with_ Nate?"

My cheeks go hot and my heart beats faster than a hummingbirds. I know exactly what she means but I just want to avoid anything about the subject matter. "What do you mean?" I fake a perplexed look on my face.

"Shane," she whispers, "Are you gay?"

"No," I say hesitantly. "Um, I mean… yeah…"

Suddenly, everything that could possibly go wrong goes through my head like a bullet. What if Mitchie thinks this is because of her? What if she's still mad at me and tells the whole camp? What if she tells my parents? What if she tells the press! For all I know she could have never told me that she's a conservative Mormon who believes I'm tainted by the devil because I like guys.

"Okay," she says uneasily, "That's all I wanted to know." She stands and as she starts to walk away, I stop her.

"Hey, Mitchie." Her head turns and I tell her, "Good luck… with Caitlyn and all them."

A smile widens slightly and she replies, "Good luck to you too. With whoever."


	12. Chapter 12

I still can't tell if Mitchie and I are friends again, but it feels like things are okay again. I don't feel a need to hide from her like a scared first grader and there's finally a response to more of the things I've been rattling my brain about for answers. Maybe I should talk to Caitlyn and them, I feel like I sort of owe it to Mitchie. But for now, I got a class to get to so I meet up with Tess as she's walking towards the mess and I'm leaving. "How come you missed lunch?" I ask.

"Oh, I um needed to talk to somebody;" she says but quickly added, "Did I miss anything interesting?" This is a bit of a random question for Tess but I have something to say anyhow so I don't really care.

"Mitchie came and talked to me and she found out about," I lower my voice, "Nate and me, you know…" First, she looks at me quite startled but I promptly reassured her about what she said. "I think she's okay with it, as far as I can tell." I even mentioned what happened with Caitlyn and all of Mitchie's friends hoping maybe she'll know something.

We reach the spot where we usually part for our separate classes. "Have fun at your piano lesson," I wave back a Tess as we walk in opposite directions.

It's become routine for me to arrive early so I can sit next to Daniel and watch the ballet class practice to classic Sleeping Beauty. Daniel usually tells me about being in ballet and he asks me about my music and my friends.

"So… would you want to hang out today?" Daniel asks me as his class ends and mine begins, "After classes and dinner and all that?"

"Yeah, sure," I reply, trying to be nonchalant.

"Okay, meet you in the music room around six-ish?"

"See you there!"

The moment passes quickly. A moment that I'd expected to be much more awkward and tense. But he leaves and I start my ballroom class with my mind wandering somewhere else every two minutes. My poor dance partner's toes had to pay for that. Same thing during the beginner's guitar class I teach and dinner.

"What are you so dopey about?" Tess asks me over our Mac-and-Cheese and green beans.

"My friend Daniel wants to 'hang out' and I'm trying to figure out if he actually wants to hang out or," I lower my voice as usual, "If he means something besides _hang out…_" I take bite of food and swallow after barely chewing. "You don't think he can tell, do you?"

Tess leans in too so our faces are less than two inches apart so she can start talking too. "Is he gay?" She asks.

"He never actually said it," I say, "But he is a ballerina."

She giggles quietly. Then, for no reason at all, I remember my discussion with Mitchie today.

"Have you seen Mitchie yet today?" I ask Tess.

"I just passed her on my way here. She actually smiled at me today."

As I start to think about it, Tess knows my secret, Nate knows and now Mitchie knows. I feel like this is becoming official. Like the whole world will know soon enough. Tess hasn't told anyone, Mitchie wouldn't tell anyone and Nate can't tell anyone if her wants to protect his reputation but… things spread fast at this camp. Besides, how did Mitchie find out? Nate must have told her because Tess is clueless. Or Tess was telling someone else as Mitchie overheard and the rumors are flying around camp as I rattle my brain for answers. I elaborate to Tess on the story that Mitchie told me today and that she knew about Nate somehow.

Then I peek at Tess' sparkly watch and see that it's 5:58. "You go 'hang out'," she put air quote around her words, "with Daniel. I'll talk to Mitchie."

"Thanks," I tell her as I throw away what's left of my tray and run to the music room. As I walk in the door, I attempt to steady my breathing so he can't tell that I sprinted here. "Hello," I utter in a casual sense.

"Hey," he says from the piano bench.

I grab a nearby stool and set it close to the piano. "You play piano and you're in ballet? I don't think I've ever met someone so elegant," I say. He laughs and sets a small stack of sheet music next to him on the bench.

"I don't play," he tells me, "I'm just looking through this music… It sort of got me thinking about how you write your music. It seems really interesting."

People almost never ask about the music I write. Or the music Nate and Jason write for that matter. Although I don't mind the questions about what I do in my spare time or the other bands we're going on tour with, Daniel seems intelligent to be asking about the music. The entire reason I'm even an artist. "Well, I don't make up music like this," I let him know, looking through the pages and pages of classical symphony pieces. "It's more about writing poetry for me. Or just creating a beat other kids can dance to, and putting words to it. Anybody could do it if they tried."

Daniel pulls away from the keys, shaking his head. "I never did well in poetry. My English teacher always said my mind was too simplistic."

"Well, that's okay sometimes… even more so when it's just music and lyrics." He turns his head, looking straight at me with a look that says; 'Do you really think I know what you're talking about?' "Here," I say and sit next to him at the piano. I play a couple notes from one of my old songs and sing, "_And if I heard you on the radio. I'd never want to change a single note. It's what I tried to say all along…_"

"No, keep going, I liked it," he says, putting his hands together. A silent pause momentarily fills the room until he asks, "Is this song about Mitchie Torres like I heard?"

Mitchie helped me write this song last summer but I've actually forgotten if it was for her in the first place. "I guess it's about her. We were boyfriend and girlfriend at the beginning of camp but… some other things got in the way."

"Was it Jerimiah by any chance?" He asks, but I look at him with no clue what he's talking about. "Never mind, he's the other boy in my dance class. He once said something about liking Mitchie and wanting to ask her out. Although I thought he had a girlfriend at the time."

I considered what Mitchie told me about Caitlyn's recent boyfriend. It was quite strange to think of Caitlyn dating a ballerina, though. I giggle slightly at the thought and tell him, "That's not what broke Mitchie and me up. It's complicated."

"Did you realize that you actually have feelings for your best friend instead to Mitchie so you dumped her and confronted your best friend about your feelings which blew up in your face and now everything's in chaos?"

Unsure of what my face looks like at this moment, I stare at Daniel like he's crazy. I somehow manage to bring my jaw back to its regular position and ask, "How did you know?"

"It happens to the best of us," he declares with a cheeky smile.


	13. Chapter 13

"1, 2, 3… 1, 2, 3… 1, 2, 3…" Lucy leads everyone in an _International Standard Waltz_. "I… ugh…2, 3…" She's usually quite clam although, I'd be irritated too if I was dancing with an inexperienced, teenage boy who kept stepping on my feet.

"_Sorry!_" I whisper every time my toes end up on hers. My apologies don't seem to help the dance at all.

I've always been a klutzy dancer but my focus is completely gone today. Daniel and I are meeting again after dinner. We made plans to hang out today and tomorrow, it seems like this is going to become an everyday thing. I'd like to make a move; it's just a little difficult considering what happened with Nate. And it's not like I can just ask, 'Hey, Daniel, are you gay?' And if he isn't he'll probably be offended. Tess has actually been trying to think of subjects where one of us would be in an appropriate situation to mention sexuality. 'You're over thinking it too much,' she always tells me, 'Just tell him your gay and he'll either say okay, me too or run away in screaming terror.'

"I'm so sorry about your feet, Lucy!" I say one more time on my way out the door. She just looks up at me through her bangs while she's messaging her toes through her skin colored tights.

On my way out, I don't see Daniel but I'll see him later today so I don't wait around. At lunch I see Mitchie and Tess sitting at a table together and laughing. Everything feels normal as I sit down next to them. It's like I haven't been going through the most dramatic summer of my life. Half way through my pizza, Mitchie's mom walks up to our table.

"Hi, Mrs. Torres," Tess says in what I think is the sweetest tone I've ever heard come out of the mouth of Tess Tyler.

"Hey, girls," she responds. "Shane, your uncle Brown wanted to talk to you down by the stage."

"Okay, thanks for telling me," I say. After throwing away the rest of my lunch and walking over to the outdoor Camp Jam stage, I see Jason, Nate and Uncle Brown waiting around for me; Brown looks mad, Jason and Nate look worried.

"I'm really disappointed," My uncle says right away, knowing I have no idea what he's talking about-and I don't think Jason or Nate do either- "We all wanted you guys to come back this year so you three could be a good influence on the younger campers. These kids look up to you! And now I'm hearing from one of them that they've been seeing one of you sneak out _every_ night after dark." He waits a second while the three of us are silent. "They were too far away to make out who it was," he continues, "One of you has to come clean soon or else I'm pulling the plug on spending another summer here. We've all been through enough."

Nobody says anything. Jason and I look at each other, expecting Nate to say something but he doesn't. We both know it's him. Why doesn't he say anything? Eventually Nate and Jason just walk away. Maybe Nate wanted to think about how he was going to tell Brown.


	14. Chapter 14

My uncle raises an eyebrow at me, as if I'm the one under suspicion for sneaking out of my cabin in the middle of the night. So much for everything being normal for a little while… "What would I possibly be doing outside my cabin in the middle of the night?" I ask.

"Whoa, I never pointed any fingers." He backs up to the stage and sits on the edge, swinging his feet and trying to look young and hip like her always is. His tricks just don't work on me though because I've always known him as my dad's goofy younger brothers who fled to England when he was fifteen and never looked the same in any old photo's after that. No would ever believe me if I told them I found a family portrait from when Brown was just twelve, wearing a blue suit. "You know, I wouldn't tell your parents if it was girl that was seen sneaking out every night… I might have to kick you out though," he smirks through his somehow responsible yet irresponsible words.

Even though I'm going to be eighteen in October and my parents could probably care less what I did at a high school camp with horrible adult supervision, I ignore him trying to be cool and truthfully say, "It's definitely not a girl."

"I saw you meeting Mitchie meeting at four in the morning," he playfully punches me in the arm. "That time, though, I was the only one who saw you and I couldn't rat out my favorite nephew."

Finally, I get tired of standing next to him and sit up on the stage. And happen to find it unusually temping to swing my feet back and forth. "Are you saying that because I've got two platinum records or because I'm your _only _nephew?" He laughs, but it's true. "Besides," I continue, "Mitchie and I broke up over a month ago."

"You never told me that Shane! I need details about what goes on at this place, my hearing's going bad." I don't give him any of the details I know he wants but I tell him the usual 'It didn't work out' thing and explain that we're starting to become friends again and it's good we had a break from each other and blah, blah, blah. "Do you think the two of you will get back together?" He poses.

"No," I give my answer right away. It feels kind of good to be so sure of myself.

Uncle Brown hesitates a minute and tells me, "Well, warn Jason and Nate that I'll be stopping by tonight for a final answer. I don't care if it's you or not, if nobody confesses I can't let you three come back after this."

"I understand. Thanks, Uncle Brown."

Later on at dinner, I decide to let go of the fact that Mitchie found out without me telling her. I don't care how she found out, because nobody else has said anything and I no longer get Mitchie's sad looks of cartoon frowns and puppy dog eyes every time I pass her. Now I just get to sit and talk to her and Tess at lunch and between classes and, sometimes, if we're sitting more towards the corner where no one can hear us, one of them will bring up Daniel and I can't help but want to talk about him. Today there were people sitting close to us though, two of them young girls who kept giggling and smiling at me, so I didn't get a chance goggle over this guy I hardly know.

It wasn't long before I got to meet Daniel in the music room like I had been anticipating all day. I walked to the empty cabin across camp and waited a short moment for Daniel to arrive, not even thinking about Brown or Nate or anything else. We just hang out in the music room for a couple hours after that. I teach him a little more about writing music and he tells me about his dance class.

"I've been dancing for as long as I can remember. It would probably be weird not to do it every day," he tells me.

"Maybe you could try ballroom dancing next year," I suggest; hoping we could have a class together, "You're coming back next year, right?"

"Yeah, definitely. You?"

Remembering that Nate still hasn't told Brown he's to blame, my mood changes out of the blue. "I hope so," I say, "There's been some rule breaking within the band," I explain and elaborate on the story. I even tell him how I know it's Nate and that I don't want to be a snitch, so Jason and I are just waiting for Nate to confess. Later, I tell him about how Brown's giving us until tonight to say what's going on and that I have to leave.

Before I go, he stops me to say, "I really hope that you're back next year, Shane." His tone is completely serious and normal, then he lets a smile break on his lips, as do I, as I tell him bye for now.

At my cabin, it's really quiet. Jason's sitting on his top bunk drawing something again and Nate's nowhere to be found. I set the stack of sheet music I'm holding on my bed and walk around to my night stand. As I'm searching for my cell phone or mp3 player or anything to do, Uncle Brown knocks on the door just in time. Behind him is Nate, who looks exceedingly guilty.

"Alright guys," he says in his English accent, "You're off the hook. Nate came to me on my way here and owned up. I'll just have to talk to you in my office, Nate." The two of them were about to leave again until Jason stopped them.

"Brown, wait," he says as he's closing his notebook and jumping off his bunk. "It isn't completely Nate's fault. I knew he was sneaking out every night and I didn't do anything about it. I shouldn't be off the hook."

When Jason says it, I realize that I did the same. I guess it isn't fair that only Nate gets in trouble after I never even said anything to him. And I had been thinking about how I did the same thing Nate was but never got caught, therefore, never faced the consequences. "I did too," I tell him.

My uncle starts to look irritated. "You guys knew and you waited until now to tell me?" His voice ever-so-slightly raises but sighs loudly and calms down again. "Nate, where were you even going?"

Nate's faced abruptly looks washed out except for his blushed, deep pink cheeks. "I… uh… I can't say." he mummers. Brown steps closer, looking as intimidating as ever. "I was," Nate speaks trying not to look straight at Brown-meanwhile Jason and I are now dying to know where he was- "I was going over the lake to Camp Star. To visit Dana. We're, uh, dating now."

That's why Tess wanted to know how long Nate's been sneaking out. When Nate and I kissed, he was cheating on Dana. After I hear Nate's answer, I have no idea what anybody is talking about. I listen to bits and pieces but the rest I cannot pay attention to. I stare into space, thinking. I could even say I know what it's like to be 'the other person.'


	15. Chapter 15

As soon as my uncle is finished giving the three of us his long, drawn out lecture about something I wasn't paying attention to, he walks out the room… leaving everyone in a bad mood. I'm suddenly feeling angry; Jason looks disappointed in himself as he slumps back towards his buck and Nate looks up at me as soon as all heads are turned away. He seems guilty, as I would have assumed, and almost regretful if I'm reading his face correctly. After that, the cabin is completely silent until its lights out and we all have to go to bed. This time I don't hear the door open and close as it usually would at this time.

The next morning, I wake up facing Nate's bed and see him with his baggy eyes wide open, staring straight at the ceiling. It looks as if he hasn't fallen asleep all night. Although I feel tired enough to fall back to sleep; I get up right away, pull a pair of jeans on and head for the door.

"Shane, wait!" Nate's sudden whisper stops me in my tracks. Looking at Jason – apparently making sure he's still sound asleep – he steps off of his bed. "I'm really sorry," he says softly.

"It's okay," I lie, "There's nothing to fuss over." It isn't completely false… There really isn't anything to fuss over as much as I feel like there is. It already happened and there's no way to take back Nate's mistakes in cheating on his girlfriend or mine in trying to make a move in the first place. "I'll, uh…" The atmosphere in the room is awkward and quiet as I try to speak, "…I'll see you later." And I walk out into the crisp morning air of the north.

At the moment, I don't know why but I want to see Daniel. Normally, I'd be embarrassed to show up at his cabin door in need of absolutely nothing in particular but this morning I find myself knocking on his screen door. As I don't hear anybodies footsteps coming, I'm tempted to turn around and leave telling myself that if I want someone to talk to I can talk to Tess or even Mitchie now. But soon after I see the door swing open, someone's standing in the way, looking confused.

"Hey, Shane," this guys says, even though I have no idea what _his_ name is.

"Hi," I respond awkwardly, "Is Daniel here?"

Daniel immediately walks up from behind this guy like he had probably heard the conversation. "Shane," he utters smiling. After his cabin mate walks away, he steps outside to talk and we decide to go for a walk by the lake.

"I didn't wake anybody up, did I?" I ask while trying to make conversation.

"No, not at all," he reassures.

There's an awkward pause as we step onto the sandy level near the water. I stuff my hands in my pockets and feel my shoulders tense up to my ears. Uneasily, I sigh; thinking about last night and this morning before I left the cabin. "I've just had a lot on my mind lately and wanted to see you," I admittedly tell him, trying to explain why I'm doing what I'm doing.

We look at each other but I look away quickly and keep walking forward. "Do you want to talk about it?" He asks. Talking about it is exactly what I want to do but I don't know how or where to start. Should I just tell him what happened? I really want to bend the story to make it sound like all my disastrous problems involve a girl but I don't want to lie to Daniel.

"Remember what I told you? About my ex-girlfriend and how I kissed my friend… Well, the friend I was talking about was Nate. I liked him and even though he kissed me, he's straight." I feel more and more pathetic as I tell my story. "Now I…" I struggle to get the words out, "I just found out that he's had a girlfriend this entire time and he had cheated on her."

He looks a little bit shocked when he turns to directly face me, but I just keep walking to try and avoid looking back at him. "Does his girlfriend know?" He asks starting to walk by my side again.

"No," I tell him. "I just… I feel bad for Dana, his girlfriend. I mostly feel bad for myself, though, and I don't know why." I don't want Daniel to think I'm selfish but the words slip out. And he doesn't seem to think I am because he just talks to me like everything I'm saying makes perfect sense and soon, the subject changes. Than we just spend the next hour walking around camp, chatting about anything and everything.

We loop around and make our way back to Daniel's cabin and we stop at the top of his front steps. "Do you want to come inside?" Daniel says, "My roommates all have early classes that they've already gone to."

I pull my cell phone out of my pocket to check the time on it. The band and I have rehearsals in about twenty minutes but I can't resist. _I think he's finally coming on to me! _"Sure," I shrug, trying to sound indifferent. "I've only got about twenty minutes before I've got to leave for band practice."

We walk into his cabin and he sits on top of a table – rather than a chair – covered in scattered sheet music and playing cards, so I sit next to him. "Are you guys doing another performance soon?" He asks me, smiling a bit.

"We should be," I tell him, "With everything that happened last night, I think my uncles pretty mad at the three of us." And just like that we're talking about Nate again, and everything that's happen this summer. Although, instead of dwelling on all the terrible things going on right now; I like talking about it. Daniel speaks with a comforting tone and I don't feel so embarrassed about crushing on another guy… it finally feels normal.

"Didn't you say this happened to you too?" I ask him as I recall the time he was able to guess my entire summer story.

"I liked someone over this past school year," he explains, "We dated for about two days but everybody found out about it and it just about ruined my whole year. All this drama and gossip, you know what I mean, it wasn't pretty…"

Our stories weren't actually that similar. It makes me think that he knew my secrets this entire time because, although he left so many holes, I can't help but think that the obstacles causing the drama and gossip would be a closet door.

"I'm sorry," I tell him.

But he waves his hand and shrugs. "I'm over it now," he says, "I've only got one year left at that school anyway."

Watching him act so relaxed about everything that happened gives me hope. Hope that everything can be okay again, possibly even by the end of the summer. Before I liked him because I thought he was cute and sweet to me, now I like him because I can't find one flaw when I look into his radiant hazel eyes.

After a pause in the mood, I say something more. "Don't laugh at me," I utter, "but it bothers me that I had never kissed a boy before, now the only boy I've ever kissed is Nate. And I was the only one who really meant it." It wasn't until now that realized that this bothers me; I secretly wish that my first kiss would have been with someone more like Daniel.

And just like that, he slides his hand to the back of my neck and pulls our faces together. His soft, warm lips touch mine and they linger there as my eyes fall shut. My heart is pounding faster than a hummingbird's and a tingling sensation is sent to fingertips. After a second and a half, our faces brush away from each other.

"There," he mummers, "Now he's not the only guy you've kissed."

…

_**Don't forget to review!**_


	16. Chapter 16

The Final Jam had been surprisingly anticlimactic. Some trio won and I didn't know anyone one of the kids in it. However, judging the show gave me chance to not think about anything. My mind had finally filled with happy thoughts after Daniel and I had kissed, stopped stressing over everything with Nate (because of Daniel), forgot about Nate's secret girlfriend and blocked out all my self-blame… And focusing on the Final Jam contestants took away my chance of letting in more unnecessary stress. That, judging by my past behavior, I definitely would have done.

Connect 3 performed but due to the number of rehearsals that somebody stormed out of, we probably did our worst performance since we first formed the band. But even Jason took it more harshly than I did, and I didn't even know someone like Jason could take something harshly at all.

Jason and Nate walk into the cabin but I just continue packing my suitcase without a word. When they start packing as well, I see Jason place his thick notebook in his suitcase. Except the cover is now coated in pencil smudges and torn around the edges. Nate is folding all of his cloths too perfectly and stacking each idem in his suitcase, organized by color. The room is completely silent except for the sound of someone moving a musical instrument or a pair of loafers dropping to the floor.

"Uh, guys?" I say with a touch embarrassment in my voice that even I can here. "Are we okay?" I ask, "We're not breaking up or anything?"

"Shane," Jason cries as he walks towards me, "of course we're not breaking up." He places a hand on my shoulder the same way my dad use to when he would tell me college should be my first priority and music should remain a hobby. "Just because we didn't get along as well this summer doesn't mean we can't still be in a band together!"

Nate finally looks up from his neatly piled shirts and pants and looks me in the eye over Jason's shoulder. "I'm fine, if you're fine," he utters slowly.

And just like that, things feel more normal again. Nate was the last piece to my camp puzzle that I finally fit in. Now that I'm not worried about him or Tess or Mitchie or anything else that could possibly go wrong, I want camp to be longer. I could write music, spend time with my friends, spend _a lot_ of time with Daniel and never worry about the press outside of camp.

"Are we ready to go?" Jason says in his usual happy voice. And I am ready. I'm ready to leave this place behind until next year. Although, I thought there was one more thing I wanted to do before…

"Oh, I almost forgot!" I turn around again to look directly at Jason. "I thought you might want to know that I'm gay."

"Shane," he says and he puts his hand firmly back on my shoulder. "I'm not stupid."

THE END

**A/N: Thank you very much for reading this all the way through. I know I have been very bad about posting new chapters. I do realize there are some unresolved problems and unfinished subplots in this story but that's how I think stories should end…**

**In case you would like to read more, please write a review because I have ideas for a sequel. I have not been good about posting chapters so I am not sure if I can write another multi-chapter story with the same basic plot but if I can count on a couple readers and I have time to plan and write another one, I would be more than happy to create a sequel.**


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